Improving Iranian High School Students’ Writing Skills through Online Dialogic Interactions: A Microgenetic Analysis

Abstract

Though a mass of studies has documented the efficacy of teaching approaches, rooted in Sociocultural theory (SCT), in L2 learning, the effects of online dialogic interactions on improving high school students’ writing skills have been rarely explored in the Iranian EFL context. Thus, the present study aims to disclose how online dialogic interactions lead to the development of high school students’ writing skills. For this purpose, an intact grade 12 class was selected randomly at a state high school in Borujerd City, Iran. The students received online instruction in 11 sessions held two times a week. The interactions between the teacher and students were recorded carefully and were subjected to the microgenetic analysis approach. The findings revealed how through the dialogic interactions, the teachers offered congruent mediations tailored to the students’ needs and lacks, resulting in the improvement of their writing skills. Based on the tenets of SCT, a range of implications is presented.